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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

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Author: Junot Diaz
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$24.95~~
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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

236 reviews
Sales Rank: 1261

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.8 x 2.1

ISBN: 1594489580
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781594489587
ASIN: 1594489580

Publication Date: September 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: NO CALIFORNIA SALES, PLEASE! Hardcover is near fine with a near fine dust jacket. The dust jacket looks great in a (new) protective cover. The inside is clean, bright and tight. It looks unread. Your satisfaction guaranteed with quick shipment. NOTE: I will ship this item via MEDIA MAIL. All domestic orders ship with Delivery Conformation (usually the same day). NO CALIFORNIA SALES, PLEASE!

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
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•	Kindle Edition - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
•	Audio Download - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Unabridged)
•	Hardcover - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series)

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, September 2007: It's been 11 years since Junot Diaz's critically acclaimed story collection, Drown, landed on bookshelves and from page one of his debut novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, any worries of a sophomore jinx disappear. The titular Oscar is a 300-pound-plus "lovesick ghetto nerd" with zero game (except for Dungeons & Dragons) who cranks out pages of fantasy fiction with the hopes of becoming a Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien. The book is also the story of a multi-generational family curse that courses through the book, leaving troubles and tragedy in its wake. This was the most dynamic, entertaining, and achingly heartfelt novel I've read in a long time. My head is still buzzing with the memory of dozens of killer passages that I dog-eared throughout the book. The rope-a-dope narrative is funny, hip, tragic, soulful, and bursting with desire. Make some room for Oscar Wao on your bookshelf--you won't be disappointed. --Brad Thomas Parsons

Product Description
This is the long-awaited first novel from one of the most original and memorable writers working today.

Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight, lovesick Dominican ghetto nerd. From his home in New Jersey, where he lives with his old-world mother and rebellious sister, Oscar dreams of becoming the Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the Fukoe-the curse that has haunted the Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still waiting for his first kiss, is just its most recent victim.

D az immerses us in the tumultuous life of Oscar and the history of the family at large, rendering with genuine warmth and dazzling energy, humor, and insight the Dominican-American experience, and, ultimately, the endless human capacity to persevere in the face of heartbreak and loss. A true literary triumph, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao confirms Junot D az as one of the best and most exciting voices of our time.

Customer Reviews: Read 231 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

An Interesting Challenge December 4, 2008
A. Frank (New York, USA)
Well, I finally got around to reading it on my flight home and here are my thoughts: There is absolutely no contest that a nerdy Dominican boy makes for an original subject. Yes, I was slightly handicapped by my rough Spanish and limited knowledge of Sci-Fi culture, but I still believe Oscar's story to be genuine. I found myself heartbroken by his lack of will, but also strangely delighted by his quirky,inaccessible type of personality. My final thoughts is that I haven't read enough contemporary fiction to truly appreciate Oscar's narrative. At times I found the Spanish to be pretentious rather than authentic. I am left wondering why I feel that way. For now, I would say that I'm a little indifferent to how I feel about the novel. Again, I really loved the story but I cannot help but feel that the novel is more trend than substance.

1 out of 5 stars

Boring! December 2, 2008
Kaydee A (Florida)
0 out of 3 found this review helpful

I got as far as page 106 and couldn't waste any more time on this book. Too many random words in Spanish-just enough to wonder what the author is talking about. There were also a lot of footnotes-tiny footnotes-that made this feel like a boring school book. I tried, but couldn't finish this book. We read it for a book club and others had the same opinion.

3 out of 5 stars

Story of a dominican family November 30, 2008
Andres C. Salama (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

This story of a Dominican family, from the 1930s to the present, as they face a curse because one of its ancestors once displeased the all powerful Dictator Rafael Trujillo. Each chapter is about a particular member of the family. Some of them are memorable - the Oscar of the title, a black teen living in a New Jersey ghetto, a virgin weighing over 300 pounds, obsessed with videogames, Tolkien and genre literature and with zero game on women, is a memorable literary creation. Also compelling is the character of his grandfather, a respected doctor in the Dominican Republic who grew foul on dictator Trujillo by refusing to give her young daughters to him to deflower (the Dominican ruler apparently enjoyed Droit de Seigneur on his republic). Other characters (Oscar's sister, Oscar's mother) are less interesting, so this is a case of a book that has great moments and less great ones. Still, it is a recommended read, even if the Pulitzer prize it won was probably a bit too generous.

3 out of 5 stars

Not that brief and not that wonderous. November 30, 2008
J. Becker (Berkeley CA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I read this book for a book club I am in and would say that I enjoyed the read. It's a look into a culture and a history (Dominican-American) that I was unfamiliar with and found interesting and often entertaining. Diaz's writing is very good, sometimes lyrical. However I found it hard work to get through the book and probably would have dropped it if I hadn't felt obligated to finish it. In discussing the book with others I stated that I would not read it again, it just didn't feel substantial enough. Diaz is a good but not great storyteller.

5 out of 5 stars

a brief history of Dominicans and Dominican-Americans November 30, 2008
N. Dimaio
A compelling look at how torturous it is to live under a dictatorship and how strong and defiant the human spirit is. A history lesson in the Dominican Republic which unfolds in a very interesting and personal way as Trujillo's curse effects 3 generations. If you dont know any Spanish, have a Spanish-English dictionary or someone who does speak Spanish (I had a Cuban born husband on hand to ask the words they dont teach in school. He said Oh, you're speaking Dominican?) A great book.

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